I'm absolutely convinced that a riot merely intensifies the fears of the white community while relieving the guilt. And I feel that we must always work with an effective, powerful weapon and method that brings about tangible results. But it is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society. (Martin Luther King Jr.)
So here we are again. Another segment of a city in revolt. Another person of color dead under suspicious circumstances by law enforcement. Another debate over property damage versus the spark of the anger.
Today it’s Baltimore. Earlier this month, it was South Carolina and Oklahoma. Last year it was Ferguson and New York. 5-6 years ago it was Oakland. What more is there really to say? The script we’re seeing this week is nothing new and it’s predictable. If you continue to be shocked, you need to wake up, smell the smoke and ask how we got here instead of why are a few idiots tearing stuff up.
Let me be clear. To only focus on those who riot instead of also those who have peacefully protested Freddie Gray’s murder - and it is murder, my readers - and the lack of an explanation from the Baltimore police department on his murder is shortsighted.
Honestly, there was nothing wrong with what Mark Cuban said when he admitted his prejudices. My first reaction when I saw this was YES! A White person who wants to be honest and admit their prejudices with the hopes of working on them.
(By the way, watch that entire video. Cuban, one of my favorite people in sports, speaks frankly and honestly like he does when he criticizes in the NBA. Don't take the soundbyte, swallow this and then process what I say next)
This is what I want more people to do. I've written about it before (see the bottom of this post) and I think that the best way we can understand and live with each other is to work on our prejudices as much as we call out others for theirs along with ignorance and racism.
Yet because people are such children whenever we get honest on discussing race, this became a bigger deal. I'm not speaking on good folks like Bomani Jones and others who pointed out worthy critiques of what he said. I'm talking to others who are unable to distinguish between Cuban and Donald Sterling and think this is a bigger deal than it is.
James Baldwin once said “To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in rage all the time.” For me, my anger is slowly hardening and replaced with numbness as injustice continues in various forms.
Being Black in America means at some point, you’ll go from shock to anger to numbness at how often things happen to people who look like you. No matter how optimistic you want to be, you start losing hope that things will ever change.
What happened Saturday was the justice system reminding us that it’s not fair. George Zimmerman, due to his legal team doing a great job, wasn’t found guilty of killing Trayvon Martin despite initiating the confrontation. A kid is dead because of racial profiling and perhaps winning a fight he didn’t expect to be in and yet his killer walked.
Martin’s reputation became fair game during a trial instead of Zimmerman’s tendencies for violence and other behaviors. Despite a fair trial, all Zimmerman is guilty of being a vigilante who disobeyed orders and started a fight. Manslaughter was an option and yet the jury could not to find him even guilty of that. More or less, Martin is somehow responsible for his own death.
Trayvon Martin and Oscar Grant. Two victims of the same killer - American prejudice.
I’m tired of seeing innocent people killed and nobody answering for it. The fact that Grant’s death saw a police officer get only seven months in jail is mind-blowing. Yet when you consider the killers of Bell, Jones, Diallo and more were exonerated, that’s actually a rare victory.
All I am right now is numb. And frankly, I’m tired of feeling that but it’s reality sinking in about this sick world.
I've been rolling my eyes at this news that the IRS secretly targeted Tea Party organizations in 2010 and 2012 and even more so at the overwhelming reaction from people to it. The uproar has some people treating this like Watergate II and all I can do is sit back with a smirk.
Memo to the Tea Party, their supporters and others who are outraged by this. Have you ever studied American history? Better yet, American domestic policy?
Let me educate real quick. The FBI under J. Edgar Hoover created a little something called COINTELPRO. During 1956-1971, they investigated and infiltrated political groups they deemed subversive such as the NAACP, SCLC, CORE, Students for a Democratic Society and other civil rights organizations. Their tactics included surveillance, spies, spreading false information, working with police officers for illegal raids, and in some cases, murder with aid from various police departments.
Time has passed since the horrific shooting at Sandy Hook
Elementary School. Two funerals are happening today and more will be done. I’ve
shed my tears and gone through my wave of grief as I’m sure most of you have.
Now I’m realizing that I’m going back to this other feeling. Numbness.
I’m numb to this because it’s no longer a shock. Since I was
13, I’ve seen kids and adults senselessly murdered for multiple reasons. And the numbers that have died has grown.
Today is Election Day and I’m realizing that this is the
first time I’m going to be in a relatively calm environment for a presidential
election since 2000.Yet I can’t shake
the feeling of being nervous like I always am.
If you’ve noticed my blog posts, tweets, Facebook posts or
anything in the past year, you know who I’m voting for tomorrow. I should be
fairly confident that things work in his favor tomorrow but despite my warnings
on avoiding all distractions, I can’t shake a feeling that not everybody is
that intelligent to parse through the crap to make a smart vote on their
conscious. But Election Day nerves aren't new to me
1992: 8 years old. My school had a mock vote for President
George Bush, Bill Clinton and Ross Perot after each grade had to “support” a
candidate in a presentation at school (I remember my 3rd grade class
had to support Perot). After we took the vote, Bill Clinton won by an
overwhelming margin and we all cheered throughout the school. I remember coming
home to see Clinton won and feeling pretty happy.
WEB Du Bois said the problem of the 20th century
is the color line. The problem in the 21st century is when we cross
the color line, what happens next? What happens after you crash the glass
ceiling to be the first?
Ta-Nehisi Coates of "The Atlantic" did a brilliant job answering this question
in terms of the greatest glass ceiling breaking – Barack Obama becoming the
first person of color to be President. The dilemma of integration is that while
it created so many opportunities for my generations and generations before and
after, it also created problems people can’t handle.
"The election of an African American to our highest political office was
alleged to demonstrate a triumph of integration. But when President
Obama addressed the tragedy of Trayvon Martin, he demonstrated
integration’s great limitation—that acceptance depends not just on being
twice as good but on being half as black. And even then, full
acceptance is still withheld." - T. Coates
If the tragedy of TrayvonMartin is a spark, the question is spark to do what?This USAsystem relies on stifling unfocused mass emotion by US
— Chuck D (@MrChuckD) March 25, 2012
It has been nearly one month and yet no charges have been
brought upon George Zimmerman for killing Trayvon Martin, who still remains
free. There have been marches and rallies around the country to support
Martin’s family and call for bringing Zimmerman to be arrested and tried. The
Sanford police department has been called out for mishandling the case and the
police chief has stepped down as a result.
What have I done? Besides share my thoughts here, I wore my
hoodie Wednesday to support the march in New York. I changed my Twitter avatar after seeing
a friend as well as several respected Black journalists (Jim Trotter of SI,
Calvin Watkins of ESPN Dallas and Clarence Hill Jr.) do the same. Now I see so
many do it and it makes me proud.
I almost shed a tear
when I saw that Dwyane Wade and LeBron James convinced their teammates to lend
their support. I never thought I’d see a high profile athlete take a stand on
this and in this era of corporate pitchmen – the most high profile basketball
players took a bold stand. They earned my respect for life.
I’ve shared links from other perspectives and I’ve engaged
in conversations about why this case means so much to me. I’ve thought about
the teenage boys at my church or my girlfriend’s nephew and how they could be
Trayvon. About how America is learning that before we are teenagers, young men
of color are told how to act in certain circumstances to potentially save their
lives and not be a threat.
I’ve also thought about my own prejudices and wondered how
assumptions/biases/fears have governed American society. Whether it be Native
Americans, Japanese Americans after World War 2, Black Americans during and
after slavery and more, we have been taught to fear others or treat them
different. Shameful laws have been passed to enforce this.
“69 billion in the last 20 years spent on national defense
but folks still live in fear.” – Mos Def (Yasiin Bey) "Mathematics
Even look at Rush Limbaugh slandering Sandra Fluke. By
having an unpopular position on birth control, she was labeled a slut. Anything
outside of the main narrative gets labeled and cast as something abnormal or
shameful. It’s the American way – make something different look fearful instead
of embrace openmindedness.
Two Things We can 2 to Honor #Trayvon Martin is 1-Bring George Zimmerman to Justice &; 2-Stop Hating, Undermining &; Killing Each Other
— Davey D (@mrdaveyd) March 23, 2012
As more people sign petitions, share their hoodie pictures
and attend rallies, some people skeptically wonder if people are riding the
bandwagon similar to the KONY 2012 campaign. It’s natural, considering that
social media activism capitalizes on instant reaction that can fade away with
time. There are great flaws in it that the KONY campaign highlighted
brilliantly – absence of facts, no clear plan beyond the initial emotion or
action, too simplistic in its approach.
To that point I say this. While it our responsibility to be
members of the global community, we must never forget our local communities.
Glocalization is more important than globalization. Think global, act local. If
you are upset at what happens in the world, fight injustice around you as well.
The difference with Trayvon Martin is there is a clear goal
for our cause – get George Zimmerman arrested and arraigned for his crimes.
Continue to put public pressure on the trial to ensure a fair process and
hopefully secure a conviction. While social media activism does have its flaws
longterm, when done right it can lead to great change.
More people will also look for ways to paint Trayvon at
fault for what happened. Wearing his hoodie wasn’t a good look at night. He
should’ve known better at 17 (looking at
you, Geraldo Rivera). Show photos of him looking a certain way (which is ironic, given that assumptions got
him killed despite a clean record). Report some witness saying that he was
fought back against Zimmerman, which considering that his life was in danger is
a pretty normal reaction any of us would do if approached by a stranger who
made the first move to attack you.
It's a common courtroom/investigation technique used to distract from what happened to paint doubt in your mind. All of which will quickly be disproven when you hear the 911
call or his friend’s final moments with him. It doesn’t change the fact Zimmerman
was the aggressor and approached an unarmed young person that he outweighed. Or
the fact Zimmerman has a track record for being overzealous.
Ultimately this is about realizing and fighting prejudices.
It’s deeper than racism, a pattern of believing one ethnic group is inferior to
another. To a man, most reasonable people will admit this is wrong but what
about prejudices. What about assuming things about someone based on how they
look and letting that lead to judgments and actions?
We live in a world where we do this on a daily basis and the
media consciously or unconsciously shapes them. Communication theorist George
Gerbner proved with years of research that the amount of media we consume
usually leads to how we see the world. He told Congress that fearful people are
“more dependent, more easily
manipulated and controlled, more susceptible to deceptively simple, strong,
tough measures and hard-line postures.”
That was in 1981. He prophetically added that “they may
accept and even welcome repression if it promises to relieve their insecurities.”
(Hello, Patriot Act)
Like Tim Wise and Davey D said, America has created a climate of fear.
You are living in a culture that tells you to fear somebody. Look at your news
– the lead stories are usually crime or tragedies. Who are the villains and who
are the heroes in shows? What’s your instant reaction when you see somebody
different than you? And too often, the victims of this fear are people who look like me.
My godbrother was randomly stopped in my current neighborhood when he came to visit me, for no reason. Somebody called the police on me when I was in HS because I ran back to my house to catch a baseball game and a neighbor didn't recognize me.
Here’s what I say people can do. Remain aware of this case.
Sign a petition. Show your support how you see fit. Talk about it but also
realize it’s not an isolated incident. It’s something that people of color face
every day and you – yes, you the majority – are responsible for it changing.
Look at yourselves and your friends. Look at what you assume
about people. Look at how far you’ll go about your assumptions. Nobody thinks
they’ll kill or hurt somebody but fear has a way of surprising you with its
pull.
Until we all check our assumptions, fears, society will never grow from this moment. It's more than an avatar, its a renewing of your mind
— Evan Barnes (@evan_b) March 24, 2012
We have to unlearn our prejudices and constantly renew our
minds. I’m not saying be naïve but I am saying watch your comments. Be quicker
to listen and see before thinking something about someone. Fear is the true
opposite of love, not hate, and if we learn to eliminate our biases and put
ourselves and friends in check when we step out of line.
I’ve learned to not assume people are thugs by a mugshot, by
how they dress or act. Maybe I’d rather be proven wrong but having been in the
media and seen how people assume too much, I’d rather be a voice of caution
when there’s a lot more quickness to judge – too often by people who don’t look
like the people being judged.
To properly honor Trayvon Martin, we have to live
remembering that he died from a bullet AND a thought. It’s more than just
remembering his death by changing an avatar. It’s living with his ghost
reminding us to change our perceptions and not let fear have such a power on
us. When the music stops and the media and most folks move on, this is what you must do to remember what happened and provoke change.
Speaking of ghosts, I’ll let one of my inspirations, James
Baldwin, get the final word, addressing what we have created by our fears.
The two major sports lowest on my radar are tennis and soccer. I love tennis during the majors and soccer only during the World Cup. Little did I know that both would provide two of the best moments of the year.
Yesterday I watched nearly three hours of tennis. I never do that. Because of church, I never get to see most Grand Slam Finals on Sunday and so I feel like I finally got a chance to watch an epic match of will, determination, guts that may overshadow anything else we see this year.
John Isner and Nicholas Mahut played the longest match in tennis history in the fifth set alone (8 hrs - 11 mins). The match itself took 3 days with play suspended to darkness twice. A grand total of 11 hours and five minutes at Wimbledon. Unbelievable.
I woke up to 39-38 Isner and raced to my TV. On Twitter, I went from awe to placing predictions on where it would stop (52, 57, 60?). You wanted it not to end because it meant someone had to lose.
Nothing was better than seeing Mahut dive near the end of Day 2. That shot said it all - and the normally stoic London crowd begging the ref to keep the match going. And the scoreboard blowing out.
Wimbledon has seen epic matches (Federer-Nadal in 08, Federer-Roddick last year) but tennis won today. Just for good measure, Isner won by outlasting Mahut 70-68 (11-9 today!). The numbers are mindblowing.
Sidenote: I kept hearing Mahut's name and thought back to one of my classic memories from ABC's One Saturday Morning cartoons ---> Mahooot from Mrs. Munger's class. hahahaha
Oh, and that came after possibly the greatest US soccer moment ever. A fastbreak that showed us that is isn't your father or older brother's US Soccer team. Pardon me for doing this in basketball terms
Tim Howard sets up perfectly with the outlet pass to Landon Donovan, who dribbles downfield with teammates around. Jozy Altidore gets the pass, sets up Clint Dempsey for the score and Dempsey gets blocked. But WAIT! Donovan was still trailing the play and the rebound was there for the taking. With the goalie down, he kicks it right into the open net. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!!!!!
A perfect fastbreak play of instinct/skill/timing. Give Howard credit as the heart of his team for setting it up. Altidore, the future of US soccer, gave a perfect pass while the hero of the England game (Dempsey) put up a shot that wouldn't win but set someone up. And Donovan, the greatest US soccer player ever, obliged.
Staying alive never felt so good. England put pressure on us with Jermain Dafoe's great goal but gave us a gift when the great Wayne Rooney missed a wide open shot. Man I love the Brits, always good for assistance since 1815. First Green gave us that goal with his soft hands, now Rooney blew an easy goal. God Save the Queen indeed.
First time the US has won a WC group since 1930. We got Ghana this weekend in the Round of 16. Guess where I'm gonna be.
This is why I love being a sports fan - every once in a while, a sport you only watch recreationally can give you moments that match up with watching your team winning an NBA, NFL or MLB title.
